Something for everyone

Those who sometimes complain there is little to do in Cape Girardeau surely found plenty to keep them occupied this past weekend.

The choices ranged from championship football and soccer games to dazzling historical displays and craft fairs that drew thousands:

Southeast Missouri got a taste of early American settler life when the Lewis and Clark Expedition came to town. The group is retracing the 1803-1806 waterway journey from Pennsylvania to Montana.

Re-enactors dressed in authentic period clothing set up camp at the Missouri Conservation Department's Red Star Public Fishing Access and at the newly completed Red House Interpretive Center.

Campfires, canvas tents and fiddle music greeted visitors at the riverside camp during the three-day celebration. Participants talked to crowds about period uniforms, medicine chests, weapons, relationships with native tribes and the basics of primitive camp life. It was a fun, and educational, trip back in time.

The Cape Girardeau Central High School boys soccer team, which played a perfect regular season faced St. Louis University High. Central and Rockhurst High School of Kansas City, two of the powerhouse soccer schools in Missouri. The Tigers took fourth place in Class 3, a feat that indicates how Cape Girardeau is becoming a soccer force to be reckoned with.

Those games were played at the Anheuser-Busch Center in Fenton, Mo., but they certainly kept Cape Girardeau abuzz. People at other events over the weekend were constantly asking for updates. The final score at Friday's game was announced during the basketball game the Show Me Center.

On Friday night, those who went to the Show Me Center got to watch two great basketball games as Southeast Missouri State University's men and women basketball teams won their games.

The men's thrilling victory over Wisconsin-Green Bay was by one point. Earlier in the evening, fans got to watch Southeast women's basketball team beat SIU 73-64.

On Saturday afternoon, more than 6,000 people watched Southeast Missouri State University's football team work toward an Ohio Valley Conference championship. In the end, the Indians lost, but it was quite a turnaround from the team's 0-5 start in nonconference play.

For those who aren't fans of history or sports, there were several craft shows going on in the area that drew thousands to the area. There was the Christmas Arts and Crafts Extravaganza at the Show Me Center and the Osage Community Centre, as well as the River Valley Craft Club Christmas Expo at the Holiday Inn Convention Center and A.C. Brase Arena Building and the Christmas Extravaganza at the Bavarian Halle. There were more than 700 crafts vendors and several thousand eager buyers.

And don't forget the holiday shoppers who already have made quite a dent in their gift-giving lists. Retailers all over the area had good crowds and full parking lots, an indication that sales will give quite a boost to the local economy.

There's more coming, including tonight's "Nutcracker" performance by the Moscow Ballet at the Show Me Center.

If you're looking for something to do, take your pick.